A Different Story
by A Rose By Any Other Name
Summary: COMPLETE. Lily's parents are killed, and she goes to Hogwarts in a disguise that few can see through. Four years later, when she shows her true self, things begin to happen. LJ, not lovehate.
1. Chapter one and two.

Disclaimer: I own only the plot. Everything else belongs *sigh* to J K Rowling. That's about all. R/R I have an idea of how to continue this, so if you want me to, then review!!! Oh, and if you have a good idea for a better title, PLEASE tell me. This one sux, I know.  
  
  
  
Chapter One  
  
By the end of the train ride to Hogwarts, James Potter already had close friends. Sirius Black was obviously a boy after James's own heart, loving pranks, and hating Slytherins in general. Remus Lupin was the second, a quiet boy with the looks of a fair-minded and hard-working student about him. But James knew that although Remus was definitely a fair-minded boy, he was a prankster at heart.  
  
Luke Evans seemed to James to be the most intriguing of the three. He laughed and joked with the others, and he also seemed eager to pull pranks on the Slytherins, but he had an air of mystery about him, and an under- current of sadness. James felt like he was hiding something, but Luke answered all questions readily.  
  
All four boys clambered into the boats and made off towards the castle, eagerly and nervously awaiting the sorting. James's first view of the castle was breathtaking. It seemed to be both formidable and welcoming at the same time. James climbed out of the boat, and he and his new friends walked to their new school, and to the upcoming sorting.  
  
James didn't need to have worried, they were all admitted into Gryffindor, plus three other first year boys, Peter Pettigrew, Jonathon Spiggins, and Mark Jameron.  
  
By the end of the first week, everyone knew each other much better. James didn't bother much with the girls, but he was on good terms with all of the Gryffindor boys. He also knew two Slytherin boys, Lucius Malfoy and Severus Snape.  
  
Snape and Malfoy were extremely prejudiced against muggle-borns, and since they were both in Slytherin they were both prime targets for practical jokes. James and his friends didn't know much magic yet, so Snape and Malfoy fell victim to the more common muggle pranks, including whoopee cushions, short-sheeting, and numerous other amusing pranks. James found them amusing, anyway, even in the Slytherins and the teachers didn't, and with the aid of his invisibility cloak, James was rarely caught.  
  
As the year progressed, James came to be closer friends with Sirius, Remus, and Luke. Jonathon and Mark became very good friends themselves, and Peter switched from group to group. The Marauders, as James, Sirius, Remus, and Luke came to call themselves, took pity on Peter, and were friendly towards him. And so, the first year passed, and James found himself yet again boarding the Hogwarts Express.  
  
Over the summer James had been thinking about a great many things, namely, Remus Lupin. Remus was undoubtedly a good friend, and a nice guy, but there was something strange about him. He disappeared every so often, either away sick, or away visiting his mother or grandmother. He also seemed to attend lots of Aunts' funerals, but the teachers didn't seem to get annoyed or suspicious. Instead, they showed sympathy.  
  
James didn't actually solve this puzzle until his third year at Hogwarts. When he did solve it, he told Sirius, Luke, and Peter. James never quite knew why he told Peter the secret, but it seemed a good idea at the time. James found out in Defence Against the Dark Arts.  
  
James was extremely bored in DADA, and Remus was away again. The teacher was droning on and on about werewolves, but the subject just didn't interest James. He heard the words, "…every full moon…" and then something just clicked. Remus disappeared every month, every full moon! James was amazed at the simplicity of it. Remus was a werewolf!  
  
James was against all forms of prejudice, and being anti-werewolf was a classic example of a prejudice, so he wasn't at all put off by this information. Instead, he thought about all of the possibilities. They could all become Animagis! They could accompany Remus in his werewolf form as animals, and they would have so much fun! James resolved then and there to find out as much as he could about werewolves and Animagi, and the teacher was astounded at how much attention James paid to the rest of that lesson. He even took notes!  
  
1 Chapter Two  
  
Lily Evans's parents died soon after she got her letter of admittance into Hogwarts. It took a lot of convincing from the school and the ministry before Lily was convinced that she really was a witch. Lily had never dreamed that she was anything of the sort, and that was why it came as such a shock.  
  
A ministry official had just Disapparated, and Lily's parents were finally convinced that she was really magic.  
  
"Oh my God! I'm a witch! I'm magic! Oh Mum, Dad, isn't it amazing!" Lily said.  
  
"I can't believe it, Lily! I never knew witches existed, but that man…"  
  
"He just disappeared!" Lily's father continued from her Mum. "I think that proves that magic does exist! And our daughter is going to become a witch! I think she should go, dear," He added to his wife at the end.  
  
"Yes, well, we'll certainly give it a try! That is, if you want to, Lily."  
  
"Of course I do! Let me go and tell Petunia!" Lily had severe doubts that Petunia would be excited for her, but she had to tell her anyway. Lily turned to go up the stairs, but at that precise moment there was a knock at the door. Before either of Lily's parents had a chance to open it, it burst open. There was a robe man standing there, and as soon as she saw him, Lily's blood froze.  
  
"So, another mudblood chosen to become a witch! Well, if you know what's good for you, you'll stay away from Hogwarts!" Lily's father opened his mouth to order the stranger out, but the man waved a stick (probably a wand, Lily thought), and her Father's mouth stopped moving. It was more magic.  
  
"Lily Evans, if you become a witch, you will severely regret it for the rest of your life. Let today be a lesson for you. If you disregard my warning, the same will happen to everyone you hold dear!" Lily was terrified now. What was going on? Who was this man? And why couldn't her father talk. Lily subconsciously felt Petunia come down beside her, but was too busy staring at the man to notice.  
  
"Look upon the wrath of Lord Voldemort!" Suddenly, there was a flash of green light, and when it cleared, Lily's parents were lying lifeless on the floor, and Voldemort had gone. Lily ran to her parents, and then subsided onto the floor, crying. They were both dead.  
  
The Ministry of Magic officials arrived soon after that, but Lily couldn't register them. Her parents were dead! And it was her fault! The Ministry officials couldn't get her to stop crying, so eventually, they gave her a sleeping draught, and lay her on the couch. There would be time for talk when Lily woke up.  
  
The Ministry heard the whole story from Lily when she woke up. They immediately decided that Dumbledore was the person to deal with this job, and called him in at once. Professor Dumbledore sorted it out, as he usually did everything. He spoke to Lily, and put a spell on her to contain her grief. It would slowly wear off, allowing her to take more and more of the pain of her parents' deaths as life went on. Dumbledore suggested that the safest place for Lily to be now was at Hogwarts. His idea was that she go disguised. When Lily heard of the plan, she grudgingly agreed. She would be, to all purposes, a boy. She would become Luke Evans.  
  
That was how Lily came to be James's, Sirius's, and Remus's friend in her third year at Hogwarts. They didn't know she was a girl, and she certainly didn't plan to tell them. The later anyone found out, the better. She would reveal who she was when she knew she had enough magic to protect herself, but until then, no-one would find out her secret.  
  
Lily woke up the morning before James realised what Remus was. First, she performed the charms that made her body look like a boy's, and then the voice-deepening charm. When she had finished, she looked like Luke. The charms should last for 48 hours after she put them on, but Lily made sure to put them on every morning, just in case something happened and she forgot to put them on one day. Then she clambered out of bed, and changed into her robes. Because she wasn't in her own body, she didn't feel at all self-conscious about doing this if front of the boys.  
  
Whenever Lily showered, she undid the charms, because otherwise she didn't feel properly clean. It meant that she had to make sure that she locked the bathroom door whenever she was in there, and also that she knew what she really looked like, under all the charms. If she didn't, she might have wondered if she was becoming a boy.  
  
Lily knew she wasn't, though. Although Sirius went through girlfriends like toilet paper, and both James and Remus had had at least two, Lily never had any. Sometimes, girls asked her out, but she always refused blankly. It might not be helping her disguise, but there was absolutely no way that she would go on a date with a girl.  
  
Later on that day, James was telling her, Sirius, and Peter about Remus. Lily wasn't too shocked, after all, it did make sense. What worried her was James's plan for them to become Animagi. Lily knew that to turn into an animal you had to be in your original form, and that meant revealing who she was to the boys. Lily knew she could trust them, except maybe Peter, but she didn't want to make them uncomfortable in front of her, not if she could help it.  
  
"Let's do it! Let's become Animagus." James was saying.  
  
"Um… James? I can't." Lily said.  
  
"Of course you can, Luke! It'll take a bit of practice, but we'll all learn how eventually."  
  
"No, James, that wasn't what I meant. I… my family has this… allergy, I guess. None of us have ever been able to become Animagi, and it runs in the blood." That was a lie, made up on the spur of the moment, but James seemed to accept it. He didn't say anything about it to her again that week. 


	2. Chapters three and four.

A/N Ooh… I'm sorry I had to finish chapter two here, but that's the way things worked out. I won't do it again, and I'll try to get two chapters on a page. Thankyou everyone who reviewed! I love reviews! Oh, and if you have a good idea for a title... tell me. If you want to read my disclaimer, go to chapter one. That's it, thankyou so much everyone, again, for reviewing!  
  
  
  
The next week he told her what they had decided to do. He, Sirius, and Peter were going to try to become to be Animagus. James was sympathetic towards her, and Lily felt bad. If only she could tell them the truth! So Lily decided to help them. If she couldn't become an Animagus, at least she could help them with the research, the extra work, and she could help to side-track Remus. So it was decided.  
  
1 Chapter Three  
  
James was disappointed when Luke told him that he couldn't become an Animagus. He would much rather have Luke as an Animagus, and not Peter, but this was the way things were. And Luke had volunteered to help with the extra work. There would be a lot of it, James knew that much. One thing they were all decided on was to not tell Remus that they knew about him, or what they were doing, until they were able to complete the transformations.  
  
The Marauders, minus Remus, searched in the library every chance they got when Remus wouldn't become too suspicious. Luke was a much bigger help than James had dreamed he would be. James and Luke were possibly the best students in the year, James excelling in Transfiguration, and Luke in Charms. James had extra work, what with Quidditch and the practical side to the Animagus work, so Luke did almost all of the theory research. Whenever one of them had a question, it was to Luke who they directed it. Peter asked much more questions than either James or Sirius did, and James privately had doubts as to whether Peter would be able to become an Animagus, but both Sirius and Luke reassured him that Peter would be fine, once given enough help.  
  
By the end of the school year, all knew what animals they would become, if they continued on working towards Animagus. James would be a stag, Sirius would be a dog, and Peter would be a rat. Peter was extremely happy about this, in his point of view, a smaller animal would be easier. James personally thought that he would rather be a mosquito than a rat, but he didn't say anything to Peter.  
  
Luke, through all the theory, said he also knew what animal he would become, if he wasn't allergic to the Animagus transformations, but he refused to tell any of them. James didn't push it. The summer holidays came, and the four of them decided to meet up at James's house to work on their Animagus transformations. They didn't tell Remus about this, but they agreed to meet him in Diagon Alley the day before school started, to get their new supplies.  
  
James had been especially careful not to let on to Remus that they were hiding something, and he didn't think that Remus suspected anything at all. That was all to the good, as far as James was concerned. He had the feeling that Remus would try to stop them if he knew about it. The last day of school came, and they said their farewells. James would see the others (except Remus) at his house in a month. They would stay with him for two weeks, and then go to Diagon Alley to meet Remus, and get supplies.  
  
***Lily's POV***  
  
Lily was slightly nervous about going to James's house. It shouldn't be any more likely that he would find out about her at his house than at school, but Lily was still nervous. At school, she had Dumbledore to go to for advice. The only other person apart from Dumbledore who knew her secret was madam Pompfrey. She, too, was happy to give Lily any help she needed.  
  
For the first four weeks of summer, Lily stayed in the witch orphan boarding house where she usually stayed. Orphans from all over Europe stayed there, from many school, including Hogwarts. There were no other Hogwarts students her own age there, which Lily wasn't sure whether it was good or bad. Lily kept up her masquerade as a boy over the summer holidays, too.  
  
She was down at breakfast one morning, about a week before she was to go to James's house, when she received a letter. Lily didn't usually receive letters apart from her friends, but this wasn't any of their handwritings, and it was too early for her to be getting her Hogwarts letter. Slightly puzzled, she opened it, and found a note inside, signed by Professor Dumbledore. It read:  
  
Luke,  
  
I have a matter of great importance to you that I wish to discuss. I will not write what about here, but would you be so kind as to meet me at the Leaky Cauldron tomorrow? Ask Miss Theresa for her approval, but I am sure she will allow you to come. Use Floo powder, it is the safest method, I believe. I will see you at four o'clock, if that is okay with you.  
  
Until tomorrow,  
  
1.1 Professor A Dumbledore  
  
Lily, greatly curious, showed the letter to the head of the orphanage, Miss Theresa, and the woman agreed at once. She told Lily to be back by eight o'clock at the latest, and if she couldn't, to send an owl explaining. Lily thanked the teacher, and went out into the garden to ponder the meaning of the letter.  
  
When she was out there she found another girl of about her age sitting on a bench in the garden. Lily vaguely remembered her to be from Beauxbatons, and called Cecilia, but she didn't have much to do with her. She had only arrived at the orphanage that summer.  
  
That was one of the downsides of being a boy, she didn't have many female friends, and unlike her male friends, she couldn't get to know girls through having girl-friends. Lily noticed the Beauxbatons girl was crying, so, with some trepidation, she approached Cecilia, and asked her what was wrong.  
  
"I, I'm sorry. It's just… the summer is all wrong without my parents!" Lily comforted her as well as she could, knowing how it felt, but also feeling inadequate as to how to comfort the girl. She found herself speaking randomly of Hogwarts, of her classes. Cecilia slowly stopped crying, and listened.  
  
"What about your school? Do you like it?" Lily asked Cecilia after a while.  
  
"Beauxbatons is ok. We have the lessons in French, which means that I had to figure out a translator charm before I went there, but the Headmistress helped me."  
  
"A charm? I haven't heard of that one before!" Lily said, interested despite herself. The two girls spent the day talking, and Lily went to bed feeling as though she had made a new friend, and feeling pleased that she had been able to help someone. Tomorrow was her meeting with Dumbledore.  
  
  
  
2 Chapter Four  
  
The next day Lily left for the Leaky Cauldron ten minutes early, and she found Dumbledore already there. He looked unusually grave.  
  
"Come, we ought to find a secluded table, before I tell you what I have to." Lily nodded, and barely containing her curiosity, followed Dumbledore to a table.  
  
"Now, Lily. I think it's time your masquerade is over. I have been giving this some thought. By now, you know enough magic to cope on your own, and I think that your friends will turn out to be powerful, too. Besides, there are many variations of magic, and some that won't work for you if you are in disguise."  
  
Lily digested this. He wanted her to become a girl again. She was unsure, but then again, she would have to do this sometime. Dumbledore continued on.  
  
"Also, I have been seriously thinking of making you a prefect, and I cannot have two female prefects, or two supposedly male prefects. Besides that, you are a prime candidate for Head Girl, and it would be a pity for you to pass that up just because of Voldemort. So what do you think?"  
  
Lily swallowed, thinking it over. She wouldn't have as much security, granted, but she would have so much freedom. She wouldn't have to lie anymore! She could even become an Animagus! Lily nodded to herself, and then answered Dumbledore, "I want to be a girl again." Dumbledore smiled kindly at her.  
  
"Good! I expect you back at school as a girl. Whether you stay in the boys dorms, move to the girls dorms, or choose to have a private room is up to you. But I suggest you explain this to your friends, and talk it over with them before you decide. Oh, and you may want some advice from another, too. I believe my niece will do nicely, and she can help you. Shall I leave you two to get acquainted?"  
  
Lily nodded, and Dumbledore smiled and left. Almost immediately, a girl of about twenty-five appeared.  
  
"Are you Lily?" Lily looked up, startled. She wasn't used to hearing her real name come from anyone's lips apart from Dumbledore's, and this would take some getting used to.  
  
"Yes, that's me."  
  
"Well, I'm Charlotte. It's nice to meet you."  
  
"And you." Lily replied politely. Charlotte sat down, and Lily asked tentatively, "Should I take of these charms, then?" Charlotte smiled at her.  
  
"Every journey begins with a single step."  
  
"Okay." Lily muttered under her breath with her wand, and soon she was back to herself. Dumbledore had exempt her from the no magic in the holidays rule for this very reason. She looked up at Charlotte.  
  
"Is this better?" she asked shyly. No-one had seen her as a girl for a long time.  
  
"Oh, yes!" Charlotte replied. "You know, you look quite pretty. Well, the first step of initiation into a girl's world is shopping! Would you like to go to Diagon Alley?" Lily smiled at Charlotte.  
  
"Do I have a choice?" Dumbledore's niece grinned at her words.  
  
"You," she informed her, "have been with boys too long. Come shopping, you'll enjoy looking for girls' things!" Lily agreed, and followed Charlotte into Diagon Alley.  
  
Lily never realised how fun shopping could be. She had always been with either James, Remus, or Sirius, and only to get their stuff quickly. But this was shopping of another kind, looking at clothes, makeup, and hair dressing shops, and looking and trying things on. Always before, Lily had bought stuff first time, and she hadn't spent ages looking, but not buying. Still, despite everything that went un-bought, Lily still had a load of shopping bags at the end of the day.  
  
Meanwhile, she and Charlotte had become friends, and had arranged another shopping trip for the next summer. Lily left Charlotte at half past seven that night, and took Floo powder back to the boarding house. She had to figure out how to break the news of who she was to her friends, and she had to sort out where she was going to sleep. 


	3. Chapter five and six (aren't my titles i...

A/N Thankyou so much everyone for reviewing this!!! I love knowing that people think that my stuff is good! Well, here's the next instalment, and I hope you like it. As ever, the disclaimer is on the first page, and please R/R. Well, that's about it. I hope you like it, and the next part should be out soon.  
  
  
  
Chapter Five  
  
When Lily got back dressed as a girl, she had a lot of explaining to do. But when Miss Theresa understood that she had done it because Voldemort was out to get her, and because that was what Dumbledore advised her to do, she calmed down. Lily's things had to be moved to the girls' dorm, though, and there was great confusion. Lily told everyone that she was new, and didn't want to talk about things that night, as it was quite late, and she was tired after all day shopping.  
  
However, the next day she told Cecilia what really happened. Cecilia was pretty calm about it all really, and once she had got over her surprise, she asked loads of questions. It appeared that Cecilia was just as good at charms as Lily, and just as interested. Over the remainder of the week the two became close friends, and promised to owl each other over the holidays. Before Lily knew it, the week was over, and she had to go to James's house.  
  
Lily had decided that she wouldn't become an Animagus with the boys, but she might try to do it on her own. Lily did know what her animal would be, she would be a leopard, sleek, muscular, graceful, and strong. She quite liked the idea of it. Silent, beautiful, and deadly.  
  
Lily said her goodbyes to Cecilia and Miss Theresa, and climbed into the muggle taxi with her trunk and her owl, Snowblossom. The muggle driver seemed surprised to see the owl, but didn't comment. Lily was quite nervous. She was wearing the new clothes that she had bought with Charlotte, and she even dared to wear the make-up she had bought, after Cecilia had shown her how to put it on.  
  
The taxi arrived at James's house (well, more of a mansion, really), and she paid the driver. After he was out of sight, she bewitched her trunk to be small, and light, and fit it gently into her pocket. Then she set off up the driveway. Lily got to the big front door, and knocked. It had been bewitched so that her knock rang out through the whole house, and pretty soon a woman that must have been James's mother came out to greet her.  
  
"Hello!" She said with a smile, "James didn't say that he had a girl- friend visiting him."  
  
"Oh, no!" Lily quickly assured her, "I'm not his girl-friend, I just happen to be a girl." It sounded strange, but James's mother just smiled at her again.  
  
"Okay then, you can go on up to his room. Up the stairs, and it's the first to his right. Sirius is already here, and they're waiting for Peter and Luke." Lily thanked the woman, and set off up the stairs to find James and Sirius. She knocked on the door, and heard James shout out for her to come in. She entered, and James and Sirius stared at her in surprise.  
  
"Who are you?" James asked her, after staring for about a minute.  
  
"Um, can I come in?" Lily asked. She closed the door, and sat down on the bed. Both James and Sirius were on the floor. "My real name is Lily Evans."  
  
"Oh, are you related to Luke?" Sirius asked her.  
  
"Um, actually Sirius, I am Luke. Kind of." The boys stared at her blankly. Sighing, she pulled out her wand and performed the familiar charms. The boys stared at her in astonishment. This was a different kind of stare. Their first one had been on curiosity and appreciation, but this one was of amazement and shock. Lily changed herself back, and started to explain.  
  
When she had finished, the boys sat in silence for a while. Lily waited nervously for one of them to speak. Finally, James said, "If you really are Luke, then tell us why you're here."  
  
Lily replied without any hesitation, "To help you to come Animagus. That was why I couldn't become one, not because of some allergy, but because of these charms." James broke out in a grin.  
  
"Okay, as soon as you start speaking about charms, I know you really are Luke! I guess we should call you Lily, now." James replied. Lily broke out into a relieved smile.  
  
"If that's okay with you." Both the boys nodded, and Lily slid down onto the floor to sit next to them. "Well, I have something else to ask you. I'm going back to Hogwarts as a girl, and I'm going to stay in my real form, too. But where should I sleep? Dumbledore said I could share a dorm with you, still, with the girls, or have one to myself."  
  
"Have one to yourself." Sirius said promptly. He had apparently got over his shock, now, and was wearing his usual trademark grin. "Not that we don't want you in our dorm, L- Lily, but if you have your own room, then we can keep all our Animagus stuff in there!" Lily grinned at him. This was the Sirius she knew. James rolled his eyes and grinned, too.  
  
"Speaking of rooms, I'll show you to yours." he told her. Lily smiled.  
  
"You still want me to stay?" she asked.  
  
"You're still you, no matter what you look like." James told her seriously. "Although I hope you'll forgive us if we call you 'Luke' at first." Lily grinned.  
  
"Call me whatever you like!" she said. James led her to her room, and Sirius followed.  
  
"Where's your trunk and stuff?" Sirius asked her curiously.  
  
"Oh, in my pocket." She answered, and took out her tiny trunk and owl cage. She turned it back to normal size, and when she looked up, Sirius had an evil grin on his face.  
  
"You're allowed to do magic in the holidays?" he asked her innocently. Lily grinned, knowing what he was thinking.  
  
"Within reason." Lily replied. "But I can't overdo it, or the Ministry'll get mad."  
  
"Damn! Oh well, it was an idea." James rolled his eyes again, and was about to say something when they were called down to lunch by James's mother. As they got there, she told them Peter couldn't make it because he was feeling sick. All three of them grinned unconsciously, and James's mother looked at them reprovingly.  
  
"Oh, and do you know whether Luke is coming or not?" she asked James.  
  
"No, Mum, he can't make it. Is it alright if Lily stays, though?" James asked. His mother nodded, and the four of them sat down to lunch.  
  
The week passed quickly, and James and Sirius improved greatly at their Animagus transformations. Lily also practised, privately, and she too improved. In fact, with all of her knowledge of the theory, she was about at the same level as Sirius and James.  
  
The day came when the three of them left for the Leaky Cauldron. Lily charmed their trunks and owl cages small as well, and the three set off using Floo Powder. When they got there, they sat down and ordered Butterbeers. Remus arrived within half an hour, and looked absolutely shocked when he was Lily. Lily had forgotten that she was any different than she used to be, because both James and Sirius both called her "Lily" now. So she and her two friends sat down to explain everything. It took a while, but finally, Remus was convinced, after Lily did her charm and showed Remus the truth.  
  
The four went shopping (quickly), and got all their supplies. The ate a quick dinner, and then all four went back to James's house, Remus included. Before they went to bed that night, Lily told the boys her news. She was a prefect. James grinned at her, and then also admitted that he too was a prefect. Remus and Sirius teased them unmercifully, and so Lily and James fled to Lily's room pretty soon, and Lily locked the door after her. They wouldn't be able to get in, because they couldn't use magic.  
  
James and Lily talked for a bit, but at ten o'clock, James snuck out, to find both Remus and Sirius in their beds asleep. He bid Lily good night, and went to bed himself. Lily readied herself for bed, too. Over the past week, she had become used to sleeping in a night-dress. It was strange at first, though, because as a boy she had slept in boxers like the others did. The others things she had to get used to was doing her hair up in a pony-tail, as it was long, now. Cecilia had spent ages teaching her to do that at the boarding house, and eventually Lily got the hang of it.  
  
Apart from her hair, the only other thing she felt awkward about was doing up her bra-strap. That was tricky at first, before she got used to it. Lily lay down and tried to sleep, nervous about going to Hogwarts all over again. She would be a girl there, for the first time ever. She wondered what would happen, and where she would sleep. But that was a matter for tomorrow, and could be solved tomorrow. Right now, she was tired, and wanted to sleep. Lily had no trouble drifting off.  
  
1 Chapter Six  
  
Lily, James, Sirius, and Remus were driven to the Hogwarts Express by James's mother. Lily was extremely nervous about telling everyone that she was a girl, but the boys assured her that they'd stand by her the whole way. Lily smiled, feeling very grateful for her friends. They arrived at the station, and the boys and Lily grabbed their trunks. Sirius offered to carry her trunk for her, but she shot him a look of such venom that he hastily took it back. He'd never offered to carry it for her when she was a boy. James grinned at her, and rolled his eyes at Sirius.  
  
They went onto the platform one by one, and James's mother came to see them off. She hugged Lily, and whispered "Good luck" in her ear. Lily smiled nervously at her, and followed the boys onto the train. James had told his mother the truth, and she knew what Lily was about to face. Then in was time, and the train slowly pulled out of the station. Lily and the boys all waved at James's mother as the train accelerated, and soon the station was out of view.  
  
"Guys, I think I should go and find some of the Gryffindor girls, and explain it to them. I've got a feeling that they'll be nicer about it all if I tell them myself, before Dumbledore does." Lily said.  
  
"D'you want us to come with you?" Remus asked.  
  
"Nah, it's ok." Lily said, injecting more confidence into her voice than she felt. She was more nervous now than she was at her first day at Hogwarts!  
  
The boys nodded and gave her encouraging smiles, and Lily left their compartment. Pretty soon, Lily found most of the girls in one compartment, and they looked up curiously as she walked in. Lily knew that they were wondering who she was, she was obviously no first year, and yet they had never seen her before.  
  
"Um… do you mind if I sit down?" Lily asked them. "I'm Lily Evans."  
  
The girls agreed, and politely introduced themselves as Anna, Molly, Sophie, and Jill. Anna asked, "Are you any relation to Luke Evans?"  
  
"Sort of. You see, I… I am Luke Evans. I was in disguise for my first four years, because of Lord Voldemort. But now, Dumbledore thinks that I know enough magic to be able to hold him off, at least for a little while. I don't know why, but he wanted to stop me from coming to Hogwarts."  
  
The meeting went pretty much as Lily had hoped it would. The girls were astonished at first, but pretty soon came to accept her, after they had asked loads of questions.  
  
"So, where are you going to sleep? With us?" Jill asked her. They were all so friendly that the butterflies in Lily's stomach had long gone.  
  
"No, I'm not. Professor Dumbledore thought it would be better if I had my own room, so you and the boys won't feel uncomfortable."  
  
"You can sleep in our dorm! We won't mind at all." Sophie reassured her. Lily smiled at them.  
  
"Thanks anyway, but I've already owled Dumbledore, and it's all sorted out."  
  
"Before, you seemed so shy, and you didn't have anything to do with any girls. Why was that?" Anna asked her.  
  
"I thought that if I had too much contact with you, it might seem suspicious. Madame Pompfrey and Professor Dumbledore thought that I was right. It's so hard to get used to being a girl! I had forgotten how to tie up my hair, after four years, and it took half an hour of practice to get it right!"  
  
"I can't tell. It looks good." Molly told her. "But how did you manage to look so much like a boy. I mean, now, your figure is definitely not boyish." Lily grinned.  
  
"I used some charms that Dumbledore taught me. See?" Lily performed the charms, and then turned herself back again. The girls were amazed.  
  
Lily left the compartment, to go back to her friends, and get changed into her Hogwarts robes, because they were almost there. She felt like she had a whole group of new friends, and she knew that she would be just as good friends with the girls in future as she was with James, Sirius, and Remus now.  
  
  
  
Ok, I know I don't really like reading Author's notes at the bottom of fics, but I think that everyone who reviewed this deserves a really big thankyou! So…  
  
KittyKat: thankyou so much for your reviews!!! I know there wasn't any romance in this chapter, and I'm not really very good at writing it, but I'll try in the next part. I am planning for Lily to become an Animagus, but I won't say any more now, or I'll give all my ideas away. And I'm glad that I haven't sub-consciously stolen most of my ideas from anyone else.  
  
Gnat10886: Thanks for your review. I have read all your stuff, and I can sincerely say that I'm hooked. I'm also hooked on L/J fics, but not at all on harry potter fics, so this won't become obsessive. I hope. Anyway, thanx!!!  
  
Sovia: thankyou very much for reviewing, and for being my first reviewer. It is the first story that I've written on my own and deemed worthy of putting up here. Most of what I write is rubbish, but this is quite good, compared to the rest of the stuff I write. Thankyou for your encouraging review!  
  
Chloe: Well, thanks for being you, and for standing by me. All I can say is, I took the hint, and I'm still happy you reviewed this! Oh, and FINISH BEYOND THE MISTLETOE!!!  
  
So, thanks again to everyone! ~Stef 


	4. Chapters seven and eight (how'd ya guess...

A/N The disclaimer is always on the first page. This applies to every chapter I ever write. Right, I know I said I'd put romance into this, and I have, kind of. But there will be more in the next chapter, and there is a little bit in this one. Meanwhile, please R/R. I really hope you all like it, and I think that this is one of my better chapters. If you review this, I'll review yours! Oh, and please tell me what you think, and how I can improve, and I will try my best to take your comments into account. Thanks especially to KittyKat and, of course, to Chloe, for standing by me through this. Read, enjoy, and review. It's really not that hard! ~Stef  
  
Chapter Seven  
  
For Lily, the first week passed quickly. She became much better friends with the Gryffindor girls, although everyone in Slytherin seemed to take great pleasure in teasing her. She would bet a lot that at least one of them knew Voldemort personally, and would have told him about her. Although Lily was spending a lot of her time with the girls, she still spent most of her time with the Marauders, and occasionally both sat together. This was partly Lily's influence, and she was quite proud of it.  
  
On the first few days back at Hogwarts, Lily had noticed Jill staring at Sirius oddly. She couldn't figure it out, and when she realised, she had to stuff her hand in her mouth to stop her from bursting out into laughter right there in Transfiguration. Professor McGonagall wasn't amused, but she didn't say anything, just glared at Lily.  
  
In retrospect, it was very obvious. Jill liked Sirius!!! So, not very tactfully, Lily came out with it as soon as Transfiguration had finished. She was close enough to Jill by now to be casual with her, and Jill blushed, while denying hotly that she even looked at Sirius at all. That was answer enough for Lily, especially as Anna had noticed it too. She spoke to Anna, and soon had a plan. Lily had never before been successful at matchmaking, but she was still going to try! That same day, she spoke to the Marauders.  
  
"Guys, do you mind if the girls sit with us tonight? Only Anna needs a bit of help with her Transfiguration, and James, you're really good at that!"  
  
"Um… ok." James replied. Sirius and Remus just looked at each other.  
  
"Oh come on! You need to get over your shyness sometime!"  
  
"SHY!" Sirius bellowed, startling a tall Ravenclaw girl passing them. "I'm not at all shy! Haven't I proved that with the countless pranks I've pulled on everyone, girls and guys alike!"  
  
"Yes," Lily replied, "you're perfectly happy to pull pranks on them, but have you ever tried to talk to girls, apart from me?" Lily looked up at his face. "Well, then."  
  
So it was settled, and part one of her plan was put into action. And, although Sirius would never admit it, he was nervous. The Marauders, including Lily, sat in their usual places that evening to do homework. Contrary to most belief, they actually did do homework, they just didn't often let themselves be seen doing it, unless they were up to some mischief and needed cover for planning it.  
  
Lily waved the girls over as they entered the common room, and she moved over on the couch, further from Sirius so Jill could sit there. She was squashing James, but as both Sirius and Jill were giving her death glares, she didn't notice, until his strained voice came out.  
  
"Lily… please!"  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry, James!" Lily said, moving over so he could breathe. "You okay?"  
  
"Just about." James winced, and massaged his ribs. Lily knew that if he was really hurt, he wouldn't be making such a big deal about it, so she just grinned.  
  
"Oh, poor baby! Want me to kiss it better?" Lily teased him.  
  
"You bet he does." Sirius muttered under his breath. Lily rounded on him, squashing James once more. Jill was in the way between them, and she moved as far back in her seat between them to get out of any possible danger. But Lily never got a chance to shout at Sirius, because another strangled yell came out from James.  
  
"Oh! I'm sorry!" James just rolled his eyes. "Are you still okay?"  
  
James grinned at her, and nodded, putting on a virtuous expression. "I will survive."  
  
"…because I've got all my life to live, and I've…" Lily trailed off as everyone stared at her.  
  
"What?" she asked the group in general. "Has no-one heard of that song before?"  
  
"Uh… yes, we have. But Lily? Please don't sing." Remus said, smiling slightly. Lily childishly stuck her tongue out and him, and then remembered they were meant to be doing homework. She went silently back to her work, and the others did the same.  
  
And from that day onwards, they all got together every night to homework together. So, all in all, Lily was pretty proud of herself.  
  
Studying and matchmaking weren't the only things Lily did that term, though. Besides helping the Marauders to play pranks, Lily worked a lot on her Animagus form. Her room was placed at the top of the staircase, between the intersection separating the girls' dorms from the boys'. It was invisible, and only opened when she whispered the password in the ear of the suit of armour in front of it. Lily was pleased with her room. Not only did she have privacy, which she never got at the orphanage, but it provided her with a safe place to work on her Animagus studies, where she wouldn't be interrupted. And it even had its own bathroom!  
  
Sometimes, when the common room was especially rowdy, Lily invited all her friends back to her room to study, or just to chat. She wouldn't tell them the password though, because she didn't want them changing it for a joke. It was just the sort of thing Sirius would do. Lily knew that the suit of armour would never let them in without a password, besides, it had an attitude. Lily was used to it, and she got on quite well with it, but if any of her friends said something that annoyed or offended it, or even insulted Lily, they would find themselves being tripped by every suit of armour in the castle. The suits of armour seemed to have some sort of telepathic link.  
  
Needless to say, Lily was close enough to it to be able to tease it without any severe consequences, meaning that it would trip her, but the others in the castle left her alone. They seemed to know that she and Ferdinand (that was it's name. Lily privately though that was one of the main reasons for its attitude problem) enjoyed the friendly arguments.  
  
But anyway, Lily was privately perfecting her leopard transformation, and one foggy Saturday, half way through term one, she decided to try the complete transformation for the first time. Lily cleared her room, and stood in the (quite large) space between her four-poster and her desk. She concentrated, remembering all the theory, and the partial practice that she had done. Previously, Lily had just worked on transforming parts of her body, so she could change them back if anything went seriously wrong. Now, she was trying the whole thing.  
  
With completely concentration, and after five minutes of hard work, Lily found herself as a leopard. It was the most exhilarating experience Lily had ever felt.  
  
1.1 Chapter Eight  
  
As a leopard, Lily was perfect. But, not only was she perfect, but she was black; pure, coal black. Lily had done her research well, but she was surprised at this. Some leopards were naturally born black, and known as black panthers, but these were unusual, and Lily had never dreamed that she would be one of them. Still, Lily was unique.  
  
She was about four and a half feet long, and her tail, perfectly balanced, added on about another foot. She was all sinewy muscle, and strong. Her claws retracted like cats', but Lily knew that she would be able to climb much better than a cat ever could. She was born to excel, born to be strong, and she would be able to defend herself from anything short of a dinosaur.  
  
Lily felt a great sense of accomplishment as she transformed back, and this time it took only three minutes. With practice, she would be able to transform instantaneously, but now, she was happy just to be able to do it. She had accomplished her goal! She was an Animagus!  
  
Lily left her room with a manic grin on her face to go down to breakfast, and everyone wondered why. Everyone but James, that was. As soon as she left breakfast, he followed her, and asked to talk in her room. Lily agreed curiously, and closed the door behind him.  
  
"So?" she asked.  
  
"You could have told me." James said reprovingly.  
  
"Told you what?" Lily asked with an air of confusion and innocence, but James wasn't fooled.  
  
"What are you?" he asked. "Show me!" He was grinning, and had a look of excitement in his eyes.  
  
"How do you know that it's that I'm so happy about?" Lily asked, stopping her act.  
  
"I did it too, this morning. Please show me?" Lily's grin came back on. It had only left her for a few seconds.  
  
"'k" she replied. Lily stood up, and walked to the centre of her room. She concentrated, and it happened much faster this time. Within a minute, she was in her all powerful form. Lily chased her tail for a bit, spread and retracted her claws, and basically showed off her new body to James. When she turned back, James also had a grin on his face, nearly as big as hers.  
  
"Wow." Was all he could say. After a while, he continued. "How come you never told you were secretly studying to be an Animagus?" he asked.  
  
"Well, you know, I don't know!" Lily shrugged, and grinned even more if possible. "D'you like my animal? She's a leopard!"  
  
"But I though leopards were light brown, with spots."  
  
"Most are tan coloured, with spots, but every so often one is born pure black. An entire litter can be born normally, and maybe one of them will be black. It happens, sometimes, that five of a litter are normal, and the sixth is unusual. I'm just unique."  
  
"You sure are! Want to see my stag?"  
  
"Of course!" James walked to where Lily had been standing for her transformation, and he too concentrated. It took him slightly longer than Lily, but after about a minute he was a stag. Lily gazed at him in awe. James was a majestic creature, large and muscular, and he had long antlers. His fur on top ranged from black to dark brown, but his underbelly was pure white. His legs were long and powerful, and his body was compact, showing muscle, and little fat. James turned back, and Lily jumped up to hug him.  
  
"We did it, we did it, we did it!" She said gleefully.  
  
"We did, didn't we!" James said. "We finally did!" James pulled away from her slowly, almost reluctantly. He kept his hands on her shoulders, and Lily looked into his face, and his dark brown eyes. His manic grin had faded into a soft, shy smile, and her's had too. Slowly, and silently, as if he was afraid to breathe, James leaned closer once more, and kissed her. Lily melted into him, and much too soon, she felt, James pulled away.  
  
"I guess we should go and tell the others that we're Animagi," he said.  
  
James looked at her shyly, with a half-smile on his face, and then he left her room. Lily sat down on her bed to think. 


	5. Chapter nine

A/N ok, this is probably going to be a very long author's note, as I'm writing it as I type, whenever I realise that I have something to explain. Firstly, "Sahi" is pronounced "Sah-hee". I got very sick of using only stereotypical English names, and I liked the sound of this one, so I used it. Another reason I made an Indian character (the name is Indian, isn't it?) is because all of my characters so far have been English, and that doesn't fit with the plot. Besides which, why shouldn't there be other nationalities in there? If anyone finds anything in here that doesn't make sense, or is factually incorrect, please inform me via email or review, because I want this to make sense. Chloe, I did do a bit of research for this fic, I had to, so you can't say I never research. I just don't, most of the time. If anyone's interested, the stuff about the black leopards is completely true, unless Encarta routinely publishes lies. I'm going away next week, so there won't be anything  
published for a while. This part only has one chapter, but it's quite long. I hope everyone likes it, and thankyou to everyone who has reviewed in the past. R/R! ~Stef  
  
Chapter Nine  
  
Lily followed James a few minutes later, still deep in thought. She reached the bottom of the stairs to find the other boys there.  
  
"Here she is!" Sirius announced. "Now will you tell us what has you grinning like a maniac?"  
  
Lily wondered if his grin was only because of his new transformation abilities.  
  
"I'm an Animagus!" James said, "And Lily-" Lily cut him off there. She had no idea why she did it, but it felt right at the time, and she didn't quite want them to find out. Not yet, at least.  
  
"I was there to see him transform first!" Lily said quickly. She looked at James, who looked slightly puzzled, and smiled. He shrugged imperceptibly, and nodded.  
  
"I'm a stag." Then James saw the look of amazement and disbelief on Remus's face.  
  
"Oh, we didn't tell you, did we?" he asked innocently.  
  
"Let's go somewhere more private to discuss this." Lily suggested hurriedly. "My room?"  
  
"Yes." Remus said. He looked very confused, and slightly annoyed. "You have explaining to do." Lily re-entered her room, and led the boys into it. She sunk gracefully onto the floor. It was a talent she had just learned, and a talent that had taken a lot of practising. Lily was working one `girl thing' a week. She had reasoned that she had a lot of catching up to do, and sitting gracefully was one of the things she had to learn. Never mind that all of the other girls just `plonked' themselves down. Lily was different. She was also getting side-tracked.  
  
"We know what you are, Remus." James was saying. Whoa! She had missed a lot. "Look, we don't hold it against you at all. And we wanted to do something to help." Remus had a look of shock on his face, replacing his previous look of confusion.  
  
"How?" Was all he could ask. His face was deathly pale, much whiter than Lily had ever seen it before.  
  
"Remus, we are your best friends." Lily said gently. "Others may not have noticed or been worried, but we're different."  
  
"You can't just expect us to ignore your monthly disappearances. And you know us, if we don't know about something, then we find out!" Sirius added.  
  
"But... but... how?" Remus stammered. His face hadn't gained any colour, Lily noticed. She smiled reassuringly at him.  
  
"You disappear every month, you're always pale and sick-looking every full moon, you don't let many people close to you, for fear they'll find out. We know. And we've taken measures to ensure that we can help you and be with you as much as we can." James took a long breath at the end of his speech.  
  
Remus's face was beginning to regain it's colour, but he had an unusually sombre expression. "There's nothing you can do for me." He said quietly. "When I transform, I can't control myself. I could bite you without knowing. And when I'm... when it's the full moon, I'm not myself. I'm... vicious."  
  
James's face lit up in another smile. Lily wondered when she had started noticing things like this. He said, "That's where you're wrong! Watch, and learn. If this can't control you in your werewolf phase, nothing can!" James stood, and with another slight smile at Lily, began his transformation.  
  
This time, it only took about twenty seconds before a stag was standing before them all. Remus, Sirius, and Peter gazed on with awe in their eyes. James changed himself back, and looked at Lily questioningly.  
  
Somehow, she knew he was asking her if he should tell them about her. She shook her head quickly, and he nodded his own slightly in acknowledgement. The others didn't notice, as they were too busy gaping.  
  
Finally Sirius said, "That was amazing! I can still only transform parts of myself!"  
  
James smiled again. Lily realised he was doing that a lot today. "Like my antlers?"  
  
The next hour passed with everyone admiring James's form. Remus progressed from shocked to surprised, to pleased and then to happy. Although, as Lily thought, `happy' was a major understatement. He looked positively radiant. The Marauders, including Peter, left as the lunch bell rang, everyone still happily chatting away with James.  
  
Lily doubted that she would get an opening to speak with him privately for a while, so she went in search of the girls. Lily found them at last, Anna and Jill playing wizard chess against each other, while Molly, Sophie, and Sahi looked on.  
  
Sahi was a new addition to the group, as she had only started `hanging out' with them the previous week. She was a Gryffindor, but had fallen out with the other Gryffindor girls in their year. She was from India, but had lived in England for most of her life, so she spoke perfect English, without a trace of an accent. The girls had found, however, that whenever she got annoyed, she swore (at least, Lily presumed she was swearing) in apparently fluent Indian. The girls were happy to accommodate Sahi, and the Indian girl fit right in.  
  
Lily dropped onto the floor next to Molly, and watched the game with interest. The match was close, but Anna appeared to be winning. Jill's face reflected her emotions, concentration, alarm, and hope were the main ones, Lily thought. She wondered about the alarm, and consequently asked Mollie.  
  
"What're the stakes if Jill loses?" she whispered in the girl's ear.  
  
"Jill has to either tell Sirius of her feelings for him, or let Anna do it for her. By Monday" Molly whispered back, grinning from ear to ear. Lily's eyes widened. Anna must have made a pretty huge sacrifice to even get Jill to agree to the bet.  
  
"What does Anna lose if Jill wins?" Lily asked quietly. Molly grinned even more, if possible.  
  
"A lot. I'll tell you once it's over, though, because it looks like they're going to finish."  
  
Jill, with a triumphant expression on her face, moved her last knight to check Anna's king. Lily could tell at once that this was a mistake, even though she wasn't nearly as good a chess player as Jill. With one move of her queen, Anna took the knight, check-mating Jill's king in the process. Jill looked horrified. Everyone watching, including Lily, cheered, and patted Anna on the back. Jill walked back to their dorm, and the girls moved to armchairs to talk.  
  
"Good game, Anna!" Sophie said. Anna grinned.  
  
"What with the stakes, I couldn't afford to lose!" She replied.  
  
"Yeah, what were the stakes?" Lily asked. At the same time that Anna blushed, three identical evil grins flashed at Lily. She couldn't help it, she grinned back. "So..."  
  
"She had to agree to a lot to get Jill to play." Sophie said.  
  
"She said that she wouldn't tease Jill about Sirius any more." Sahi said.  
  
"And she said that she'd tell us who she likes."  
  
"And then we would decide whether she should tell that person or not."  
  
"And she had to make all the beds in our dorm for a week." Mollie finished. "She was pretty desperate to get Jill to admit her crush to Sirius."  
  
"Jill is going to be mad at you." Lily informed Anna. Then she grinned. "But it's worth it. And..." she stopped, and motioned the girls closer to her. Huddled together, she finished her sentence. "...and I think that Sirius likes her, too. You know I'm friends with the guys, and all. Sirius hasn't said anything about it out loud, which means it isn't just another one of his two week flings."  
  
The girls' eyes widened appropriately. "I knew it was a good idea."  
  
The girls talked for a while, before realising that if they didn't hurry, they would be late for lunch. Lily's mind was diverted from James at the scene that met her eyes in the hall. 


	6. Chapters ten and eleven (just for a chan...

A/N I really should learn not to write cliff-hangers. It means I have to think up something appropriate for the next chapter, which is hard for me to do. Oh well, I expect I'll muddle through! If you want to read a disclaimer, either go to chapter one or one of the other thousands of Lily/James fics out there. I'm sorry this one is short, but hopefully the next chapter(s) will be a bit longer. Thankyou dearly to everyone who reviewed this! Now, all I can say is, R/R! ~Stef  
  
  
  
1 Chapter Ten  
  
The great hall was a sight. She just stood and admired it for about three minutes, before she realised that she was a prefect. Sighing, she told the girls to get lots of pictures, and quickly, before she went to sort out the mess. She took a lot longer than she ought to have done, so Anna (the only one with a camera on her) could take photos.  
  
First, Lily headed to the Slytherin table. They were all wearing Gryffindor robes, which bound them to their seats. Their hair was… different. It was all styled in the fashion of the judges of the past (long, with ringlets.), except it wasn't grey or white. Everyone's hair was a sort of mouldy green, with grey stripes, designed to clash with the Gryffindor robes. It stank of Sirius. It was the kind of thing he would do, perfectly thought out, and, of course, it worked well. Knowing Sirius's good grades in almost all of his subjects, Lily thought that the Slytherins would have a hard time undoing the spells.  
  
With a few good charms, Lily took the binding spell off of the Slytherin prefects, allowing them to deal with the rest of the Slytherins. She really didn't want to, but what choice did she have? Glancing at the other house tables, she saw that all of the prefects from the other houses looked normal, apart from that they, too, were stuck to their seats. None of them looked remotely unhappy about this, and James was grinning from ear to ear. Again. She set off to free him, trying her best to smother her own grin. It didn't really work.  
  
"Sirius, I take it?" she asked when she was in hearing distance.  
  
"You've got no proof, and none of the other houses, except Slytherin would incriminate him. And everyone knows they hate him, anyway." Lily's smile widened, and she freed him, and then went to free the Ravenclaw prefects. James went to the Hufflepuff table, after dealing with the other Gryffindors.  
  
When everyone was freed, they set about cleaning the floor of the red and gold confetti sprinkled all over it. It was several inches thick. Lily devoutly hoped that Anna had loads of photos.  
  
With that done, made considerably easier by magic, Lily turned to the ceiling. Gold and red streamers hang from the roof, and they wouldn't be removed. Lily grinned again. Sirius must've enlisted the help of Remus, Jonathan, and Mark to get all of that done! He wouldn't have bothered with Peter, Lily knew that for sure. The kid was sweet, but he couldn't even raise a streamer into the air, let alone enchant it to flash red and gold and make it stick there.  
  
"Hey James, give me a hand, would you?" she called over to James, who was trying to change the Slytherins' knives and forks back to their normal silver. He ran over to her, and together they spoke the spell that would bring down the streamers. It worked, but only because they were the strongest students in the year. There were shouts from all over the hall as people suddenly found themselves buried in red and gold. Lily just laughed.  
  
"It was Sirius, then?" she asked James softly.  
  
"Who else?" he replied. "I helped him with the planning, but told him he had to stick me to my seat like all of the other prefects. I hope you got someone to take pictures, before you came in and undid all of our hard work?"  
  
"Of course!" Lily said. She pointed to Anna in the corner, clutching a camera. James laughed, and he pulled Lily back to help him with the Slytherin table. Lily blushed as she remembered that morning, but let James pull her along. His hand lingered a while before he took out his wand. She smiled shyly.  
  
"Which spell should we use?" Lily asked.  
  
"It's going to have to be a charm, I'm afraid." James said ruefully. Then he leant in to whisper to her, "Actually, I told Sirius to use a 'colorum' charm, so it's going to have to be 'reversi colorum.'"  
  
Lily nodded. "Let's try it. On the count of three, ok? One… two…three!" They said the charm together, and the table turned back to its usual colour.  
  
The other prefects had dealt with all of the other transformations, so Lily grabbed James's hand and pulled him towards Anna and her other friends. The Marauders, save James, were nowhere to be seen.  
  
With just a slight blush on her cheeks as she let go of James's hand, Lily said, "You did get pictures?" Anna smiled wickedly.  
  
"Coming from a Gryffindor prefect! Really, Lily! You should be ashamed of yourself."  
  
"Anna." Lily said warningly, a smile beginning to spread across her face. She glanced around, and then spoke quietly to the girls and James.  
  
"To add insult to injury, we can owl it to the Slytherins' families over Christmas!" Lily said. "Let's see, there's Snape, Malfoy, Crabbe…" Anna smiled a smile very similar to the one she assumed after she beat Jill in the Chess match.  
  
"…Goyle, Avery, and Nott." She finished.  
  
"Don't forget Parkinson." James told her. He looked slightly angry. Marcus Parkinson had tried to kiss her on her third day back. She had tripped him as he advanced on her, and James had twisted his arms behind his back until he apologised about twenty times. She smiled at him. She didn't usually approve of violence, and neither did James, but it seemed necessary in this case.  
  
Molly waved a hand between Lily and James, breaking their eye-contact. They both blushed, and Lily realised she had been staring at him for over a minute. Molly tried to keep a straight face as all the other girls snickered.  
  
"Let's get back to the common room," she told them. Lily nodded mutely, trying to get rid of the blush. It didn't work.  
  
1.1 Chapter Eleven  
  
They all climbed through the portrait hole and into the common room to see Sirius, Remus, Peter, Mark, and Jonathan talking excitedly. Lily put on a very solemn face and walked over to them.  
  
"You," she informed them, injecting seriousness into her voice, "are a disgrace. It took us prefects twenty minutes to clean that up! I do hope you're satisfied with yourselves!"  
  
Peter looked scared, and Mark and Jonathan looked at her uncertainly. They had been a bit self-conscious with her when she came back to school as a girl. Remus just grinned, and Sirius laughed.  
  
"Was it worth it, then? I only had time to take a few pictures before we ran. If we were there when the teachers arrived, we would be really dead. What did the Slytherins do?" Lily laughed.  
  
"Ohh… it was funny! You should have seen the Slytherin prefects' faces. And James's. All of the other prefects looked perfectly sombre, and he's sitting there with a huge grin on his face!"  
  
James came up behind her, and touched her shoulder briefly before talking. This time, Lily didn't blush.  
  
"It was funny. And Anna took photos, too!" James pulled Lily down onto a sofa next to him, and all of the girls followed suit, some sitting on sofas, and others on the floor.  
  
"What did she take photos of?" Jill asked, coming down the stairs behind them. She looked perfectly composed, apart from the dirty look she shot at Anna. Anna just grinned impishly.  
  
Everyone explained, talking at once, until Jill got the gist of things. She laughed until she cried. Then, when everyone had calmed slightly, Anna said, "So, have you decided yet?" Jill glared at her.  
  
With all the dignity she could muster, she said, "Yes, actually, I have. I'll speak for myself, otherwise you will blow things way out of proportion. And I'll do it today. Sirius, could I have a word, please?" A slight flush rose in her cheeks, and so did one in Sirius's. He carefully raised an eye-brow, and stood up. Lily, grinning, offered to let Jill use her room, and the girl agreed.  
  
Lily ran up and told Ferdinand the password, and asked him to let Jill and Sirius in. He agreed, and she went back down to join the others, passing Jill and Sirius on their way up. As she arrived at the bottom, she heard Sahi filling the boys in on the chess game. They all smirked.  
  
"Should we listen at the door?" Remus suggested slyly. Everyone grinned, but they decided, after a quick argument, not to. A minute later, Jill and Sirius came back down, with un-believing smiles on their faces. They took one look at the grins on the faces of their friends, and fled up to their separate dorms.  
  
It took the friends about six seconds to chase up after the fleeing couple. Lily went with the boys to interrogate Sirius. She told herself it had nothing to do with the fact that James was following Sirius. The girls would fill her in on that side of the gossip later. Meanwhile, she had Sirius to question.  
  
Lily followed James in, unaware that she, with James, would be the next target for the match-making group of friends. 


	7. The next part (I'm getting sick of all t...

A/N why do I always leave myself cliffhangers??? I have written the next chapter, in fact, I've written the next three chapters, but I'm only going to put one up here. If you want the next ones sooner, you'll have to beg. In a review (hint hint hint). ; ) If you want to read a disclaimer, go to the first chapter. I'm getting sick of saying this. Disclaimers are always at the first chapter. And, so you cannot say that you weren't warned, there is my pathetic attempts at romance in this. Yes, I know, and I apologise before you even read it. I will try to get my writing style sorted out. Now, all I have to say is R/R. As always, please refrain from flaming. There is no point. So, without further adieu, I will leave you.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
No matter how hard they tried, neither group (or even the whole group. Lately, the marauders and the girls had been together a lot) could get any gossip on what had happened between Sirius and Jill. They seemed to take the attitude that if the rest of the group would meddle, at least they would get the satisfaction of teasing the two about it. Lily thought that they had a point.  
  
As for the relationship between James and herself, it saw frustratingly, well, normal. Nothing had happened since that day when they had kissed. Lily decided, after a bit of debating, not to tell any one about her Animagus transformation ability. Why? Well, firstly, just because. She wanted a secret way to get away from everyone and escape when things got too much. Secondly, she didn't really fancy midnight excursions every month. And, thirdly, she wanted to keep it a secret between James and herself. So, on Saturday morning, feeling somewhat nervous, she pulled James aside before breakfast.  
  
"Meet you in the prefects' bathroom after breakfast?" she asked. James looked slightly surprised, but he agreed.  
  
After breakfast, Lily changed into her swimsuit and went to the bathroom. It was a two-piece. Lily was pretty nervous about wearing it, since she had never worn one before, but there was no sense in buying a swimsuit and not wearing it, was there? Besides, it was a very nice shade of blue.  
  
James arrived after Lily had only done two laps. He had brought his own swimming trunks, and so he joined her in the pool/bath. He looked slightly nervous and anxious, but he grinned as he said, "Hi! Did you want something apart from going swimming?"  
  
"Yes," was Lily's reply. "You know how I stopped you from telling the others that I'm an Animagus? Well, would you mind if we kept it a secret?"  
  
"No, not at all. But why?"  
  
"Well… I don't really know. It's kind of hard to explain. But you don't mind?"  
  
"No, no, that's fine." He said reassuringly. Then a mischievous grin lit up his face. "Hey Lily?"  
  
"Mmm."  
  
"Can stags and leopards swim?"  
  
Lily grinned too as she said, "Only one way to find out." She changed, and it worked instantly. She had worked on it a lot. And she could swim! Not only could she swim, but she could swim well. Lily looked up to see a stag floundering in the water.  
  
It seemed that stags couldn't swim, or, at least, James couldn't swim in his animal form. He changed back quickly. Lily, still as a leopard, swam back to him fast. He was still choking and spluttering as he grabbed onto her back.  
  
In her human form, Lily severely doubted that she would be able even to tow him to the pool's edge with much speed. However, she reached the steps and climbed out with James on her back with no difficulty whatsoever. Lily turned back human, and James stopped choking. He still had his arms wrapped around her torso, but she was too worried for him to care about it.  
  
"Are you all right?" She asked him urgently.  
  
"Yeah. It was just a bit of a shock, finding myself sinking like a stone with no way to stop myself." He then seemed to realise where he was holding Lily, and that all she was wearing was a bikini. A slight flush rose in his cheeks, mirroring Lily's own. He moved his arms hastily.  
  
"Uh…sorry. And thankyou."  
  
Lily smiled warmly. She would do it all over again if she had to. And James having his arms around her chest didn't make her want to change her mind one iota. In fact, quite the contrary.  
  
"Lily…" James started quietly, his blush not yet dissipating.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Uh, do you remember the first time we showed each other our transformations?"  
  
How could she possibly forget? "Yes." She replied in a voice not much over a whisper.  
  
"Did you… did you mind?"  
  
"No! I was hoping… I was hoping that you hadn't forgotten." Lily confessed.  
  
She moved closer, covering the little distance left between them.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
A/N ooh, should I leave it there? Tell you what, you can scroll down to see. Tee-hee! I've always wanted to do this!  
  
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A/N Yes, I'm finishing this part! Aren't you lucky??? Okay, I'm sorry for that. I think I've already said I go weird late at night. Many people can vouch for that.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
She moved closer, covering the little distance left between them. He took the hint, and kissed her, softly at first, but then more passionately as he found her responding. Lily's arms wrapped around James, while he held her close with one of his own. His other hand was stroking up and down her back, making her skin prickle where he touched her. It was a long time before they began to think of things other than each other. Neither stopped to think of the sight they made lying on the bathroom floor together, soaking wet. But that didn't matter.  
  
Although they didn't know it, their friends' matchmaking plans would be in vain. Neither of the two had been in love before, but each felt that this was what it felt like. And who knows? Maybe it was.  
  
Later, Lily thought that it was a good thing that none of the other prefects came in. But, by the end of just over an hour, James and Lily were officially a couple. They did, however, decide not to tell their friends for a while yet.  
  
~*~ James's POV~*~  
  
It was such a relief when James found out that Lily did like him. He was beginning to think that she had forgotten, or ignored their kiss that day. The Christmas holidays were coming. Lily mentioned to James that she wasn't particularly looking forward to going back to the orphanage for Christmas, so she would stay at Hogwarts. That gave James an idea. His eye widened, and sparkled mischievously. A grin appeared on his face. He left to write a letter to his mother. It was worth a try! Meanwhile…  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Ok." Said a redhead, when a boy of medium height and with ruffled brown hair closed the door behind him. "Is everyone here?" The question was rhetorical, because she continued immediately. "We have to set them up. It is completely obvious, except to them. So, do you guys know the plan?"  
  
The only boy in the room with hair just as red as her's grinned. "Just tell me when!"  
  
A boy with black hair looked up at the fifth year prefect with admiration. He ought to be one of the Marauders! Pity he was too old. The group discussed the plan until everyone had memorised what they were supposed to do.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
A/N If that wasn't completely obvious, then I don't know what it was. But anyway, that's enough from me. Please tell me, do you prefer it in Lily's POV or James's? The next section will be in James's POV, but the one after is still open to suggestions. I want to thank everyone who reviewed this. You make me sooooo happy!!! *sob* ah-hum. Yes, well… ah, thanks again. I love all you guys!!! 


	8. Another episode from my crazy mind

A/N Well, this chapter is… strange. I enjoyed writing it. Anyway, I have another three hours with nothing to do, so I'll go and write the next part. Maybe. I dunno. Anyway, please R/R. It took me so long to do this, and it will only take one minute of your time to tell me what you think!  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
James signed the letter, and gave it to his owl, Twitterdragon, (A/N Don't ask) to take home. He should be getting a reply within a few hours. James went back down to find Lily. She looked up when she heard him approach, and smiled with relief when she saw who it was.  
  
"James! Thank God for that! You know, I don't think this book could be more boring if it was written purposely to send me to sleep!"  
  
"What'cha reading?" James asked her. Lily pulled a face.  
  
"Wuthering Heights. Jill bet me that I'd never be able to finish, so of course I have to."  
  
"That's my Lily! But persevere; the last three chapters aren't all bad."  
  
"YOU'VE read WUTHERING HEIGHTS!?!?!" she asked him loudly, with disbelief etched across her features. James looked around the common room hurriedly.  
  
"Shh! Yes, I have, but there's no need to go shouting it around the common room! I have a reputation to maintain!"  
  
Lily snorted. James couldn't help himself; he grinned.  
  
"Ok, ok, my mum made me read it. I did finish it though. Good luck." He pulled a face, and made as if to leave. Lily grabbed him by the shoulder, and he was jerked back, straight into her lap.  
  
"Don't you DARE leave me! I desperately need a break from this… this… book!"  
  
James grinned up at her, and then moved onto another armchair next to Lily's.  
  
"Ok, I surrender! Have you seen any of the guys?"  
  
"Nope. Haven't seen the girls, either.  
  
"Hmm. I wonder where they went. Fancy a game of gobstones?"  
  
"No! I've just showered! How about chess?"  
  
"Ugh! No way. Snape could beat me at chess! Which is saying something."  
  
"Cards, then?" Lily suggested.  
  
"What?" James asked, bewildered.  
  
"You've never played cards before?" Lily asked him, plainly surprised but amused.  
  
"No. Are they a muggle game?"  
  
"Yeah, kind of. I'll show you. Accio Cards!"  
  
A pack of playing cards (although James didn't know what they were then) came zooming down the stairs. Then, Lily proceeded to teach him Poker, Blackjack, Snap, and War. James found he liked playing cards, after he got over his initial surprise that the pictures didn't move. James had always thought that the fact that muggle pictures didn't move was just a myth, or a fairy tale. It was about as realistic as having dwarves come and make shoes for poor shoemakers in the dead of night.  
  
"Hey, Lily?" James said a while later.  
  
"Yeah?" Her voice was slightly wary. It figured. She did know what he was like.  
  
"Why don't we enchant the cards to move?"  
  
"What, like to move around the room? I'd never find them again!"  
  
"No! The pictures of the king, queen, jack, and jokers, silly! All we need to do is keep an idea of their personalities in their minds, and then perform a charm. It isn't all that simple, but we should be able to do it. Leastways, you should find it easy. (A/N Is 'leastways' a word? Well, if it isn't, it is now!) You just say, 'Mobiles Homines.'"  
  
"There's a problem," Lily informed him. "Our perceptions of the cards' characters won't be exactly the same, and if it's a stronger spell, it will need two people to work on it, because we're probably not strong enough to do it on our own, and for it to be permanent." Boy did he like Lily! Any other girl would look at him strangely, uncomprehending, and then kiss him to shut him up. Lily was different- she had a brain!  
  
"Well…" he said slowly, thinking. "How about a mind-linking spell? It'll let us talk without talking. It should let us send each other ideas, without words. D'you want to try?"  
  
"Um…okay." Lily replied dubiously.  
  
"Come on! Give it a go." He said coaxingly. (A/N is that a word, either?) When he used that tone of voice with any other girls, they melted, and agreed instantly. But Lily was different to other girls. And he was glad of it.  
  
"Oh, ok. I'll do it."  
  
"Great! Uh…now, let's see… hmm, ok, 'Capa Vox!'"  
  
~ Uh, Lily? Can you hear me? ~  
  
~* Yeah, I can. Hey, this is cool! *~  
  
~ Isn't it? Oh, by the way, I'll only hear what you want me to hear. If it isn't directed at me, I won't hear it, 'k? ~  
  
~* Good. *~  
  
~ Why's that? ~  
  
~* Because there are some things I don't want you to know. *~  
  
~ Oh, right. ~ About him, maybe? Well, he'd better get back to business. Out loud, he said, "So, you got it figured out?"  
  
~* Yep. *~ came the thought-reply.  
  
James sent a thought without words of exasperation mixed with amusement at her.  
  
"Ok, ok! So, what do you think the king should be like?" Lily asked.  
  
"Pompous." James said promptly.  
  
"Ok… how's this?"  
  
James received a thought from Lily, again without words. (A/N from now on, I'm calling them 'emotion thoughts') It was pompous, regal, dignified, and slightly different from James's own idea of the king. But still good.  
  
~ Ok, good. Want to say the spell, then? ~  
  
~* Ok, why not? Concentrate on his personality, and then say the charm with me on the count of three. *~  
  
"One… two… THREE!" she counted, out loud. Then, together, they said,  
  
"Mobiles Homines!" The king moved! He sat up straighter, and looked around him haughtily. Lily's face was a picture of delight. James was pretty happy, too. It had worked! The pompous, arrogant way that the king looked at him made him chuckle. He looked a bit like Malvolio out of Twelfth Night. (A/N Yes, James knows who Malvolio is, so don't start at me. Maybe he's seen a play? Ok, ok, I'll shut up with these notes, I bet they're annoying.)  
  
Then, Molly, Anna, Remus, and Arthur walked in.  
  
~ They're up to something. ~ James thought at Lily immediately.  
  
~* Definitely. *~ Lily agreed, ~* But what? *~  
  
~ I think I know. But pick up your book and pretend to be reading it. *~ For once, Lily did as she was told without question. Being able to communicate without talking was good, because the other person could tell immediately whether you were being sincere or not. So, with Lily apparently reading Wuthering Heights, and James staring into the fire, the four pranksters joined them. They had such innocent faces that it was obvious they were up to something.  
  
~ A galleon they're trying to set some poor, unfortunate people up, and want our help. ~  
  
~* Nah, you'd win. Wonder who it is. *~  
  
"Hi guys!" Molly said brightly. She sat on the only remaining armchair around the table. Arthur sat next to her.  
  
"Hey, do you mind moving over there, Lily? So Remus and I can sit together?" Anna asked.  
  
~* Since when are they dating? *~ Lily asked. ~* Do you mind if I sit next to you? *~  
  
~ No, go right ahead. No idea. ~  
  
"Ok." Lily said, and moved next to James. It was quite squashed sitting together. James suddenly had a horrible suspicion. ~ Lily! They're setting US up! ~  
  
~* Well, it's not as if they can do much, as we're already going out. Not that they know it. Should we tell them? *~  
  
~ No, not yet. Serves them right for meddling. Want to put on a show? ~ James's face was blank, but the next emotion thought that he sent Lily was full of mischief. It was complex, but still instant. Lily got the gist, and agreed immediately.  
  
Lily sat rigid, and as far away from James as she could get in the comfortable armchair. James did the same. Molly asked what they had been doing, and Lily replied with,  
  
"James was being a prat." James grinned internally, but kept his face blank.  
  
~* Sorry, James! *~  
  
~ Hey, don't worry, it's all part of the plan! ~  
  
"What did he do?" Molly asked.  
  
"I don't want to talk about it." Lily said, with firmness. Boy was she a good actress!  
  
~* Help, what do I say? *~  
  
~ Say… say I accepted a date with Alicia Dazzlemage, and then came to brag to you about how much she liked me!  
  
Lily sent an emotion thought that its only translation would have to be a snort.  
  
~ And then say that I stole your book, and told you the ending. ~ James continued, ignoring her interruption.  
  
Lily repeated all of that, and then added, "… and THEN he stole my charms homework, transfigured it into a pen nib, and then threw it into the waste paper basket!"  
  
Molly, Arthur, Anna, and Remus all looked shocked. James had a feeling that this wasn't going quite as they planned it.  
  
"It wasn't all my fault!" James protested, laughing internally. "She started it by saying that my charms suck, and I'm probably not capable of reading a book! That's why I did it." He tried to look self-righteous, indignant, and rebellious.  
  
"Your charms DO suck!!! And when was the last time you read a book?"  
  
~* Sorry. They don't suck all that much. *~  
  
It went, at least in the conspirators' viewpoints, badly. James and Lily, however, thought it went brilliantly. When the four trouble-makers fled, James and Lily were having a full-out argument, sending each other thoughts like, ~ sorry! ~ and ~* You know I don't mean it! *~  
  
"You insensitive, brainless, IDIOT!" ~ No you're not! ~  
  
"Well, you're a cold hearted, calculating B***H!" that was said as the portrait door swung closed. ~ Sorry, sorry, sorry! ~ Lily just grinned. She moved over to him and hugged him.  
  
"That's okay. Wasn't it funny, though?" She said, and she stepped back. It was lucky that there wasn't anyone else in the common room, or the two Gryffindor prefects would seem crazy.  
  
"I…" James stopped as he heard a tapping on the window. It was his owl.  
  
He ran over, and let Twitterdragon in. He had the reply!  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
So…..like it? Detest it? That was a pretty mediocre cliffhanger, but it wasn't really even meant to be a cliffhanger. It just turned out that way. So, if you like it, review. If you don't like it, tell me why. Give me suggestions. The next part should be out soon. ~Stef 


	9. The next part

A/N I've had enough of writing in James's POV, so unless I get complaints, I'm going to continue in Lily's. There ought to be more L/J action [cringe], Animagus detail, and a plot. I hope. Tell me what you honestly think of it, and any suggestions you might have. If you're going to complain about the lack of disclaimer, don't waste your time. Just go to the first chapter. Anyone believing that I own everything is seriously screwed. R/R  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
James unlatched the window quickly, and opened it. His owl Twitterdragon swept in with a letter attached to her leg. James picked it up immediately and quickly ripped it open. Lily watched curiously- what was in the letter? James skim-read it. A huge grin appeared on his face.  
  
"Yes, yes, YES!" He said happily.  
  
"What's 'yes, yes, yes?'" Lily asked.  
  
"You, Sirius, Remus, Anna, Jill, Molly, and Peter can come for the holidays! This Christmas! In two days!"  
  
"Won't your mum mind?" Lily asked, but she was happy. She wouldn't be staying at Hogwarts after all!  
  
"If she minded, she wouldn't've said yes." James replied triumphantly.  
  
"Well excuse me!" Lily retorted, but she grinned.  
  
"Don't you want to come?" James asked, with mock sincerity.  
  
Lily sent him a blast of emotion-thought where happiness, excitement and relief were all dominant. James didn't say anything at all in reply to that. Instead, he turned to her and kissed her. A minute later, after they broke apart, he said softly, "There probably won't be much of that this Christmas, what with my parents and all."  
  
Lily nodded in agreement. She didn't know who would be more embarrassed to be discovered by James's parents, James or her.  
  
"I'll go and get some owl-treats for this featherball, and then I'll come back down, okay?"  
  
"Yeah, sure."  
  
James smiled wryly and then told his owl, "If you want some treats, you'd better follow me now."  
  
James left, with Twitterdragon on his arm. Lily sat down on one of the couches and picked up her book, but couldn't get into it. She put it back down again. Then, she had a thought.  
  
~* Hey James, does this work long-distance? *~  
  
~ I can hear you from up here. Hey, wait a sec! I have an idea! Will you close your eyes for a minute? ~  
  
Lily did what she was told. There was darkness for a minute, and then Twitterdragon appeared, seated on her arm. She was shocked, because she hadn't felt her land. Then, feeling pretty stupid, she realised that she was seeing through James's eyes.  
  
~ Did it work? ~  
  
~* Yes, it did! I can see Twitterdragon! *~ Then a tap came on her arm, and her eyes flew open. It was the rest of the gang, looking pretty dispirited.  
  
"How'ya doing, Lily?" Sirius asked.  
  
"Not bad." Lily replied. ~* Hey James! Get down here! The others are back *~  
  
~ I'm coming. ~  
  
The group arranged themselves in chairs and on the floor around Lily. James appeared, and he too sat down.  
  
~ I'll tell them now. ~  
  
~* NO! Is Sahi invited? *~  
  
~ Yeah, I guess she can come. Mum won't mind. ~  
  
~* And Sophie? *~  
  
~ Her too. ~  
  
"I've just got an owl from my parents. You're all invited to come to my house for the Christmas holidays."  
  
"I won't be able to come," Sophie said, "my parents always insist that I come home for the Christmas holidays." She pulled a face.  
  
"I can't come either. My parents want me home." Peter told James.  
  
"Too bad." James replied, unconvincingly.  
  
"Well, I can come!" Sirius said. James groaned, and then grinned as Sirius punched him lightly on the shoulder.  
  
James already knew that Lily could come, so she didn't say anything. The others all needed to check with their parents.  
  
"Could you write home tonight, and tell me tomorrow, please? Because we're going on Monday, the day after." They all agreed, and then stayed up chatting for a bit. It was getting late, though, so they all went to bed pretty soon. Lily was standing in front of the mirror undressing when suddenly:  
  
~ Lily! Close your eyes! ~  
  
She did so, but asked ~* Why? *~  
  
~ I had my eyes closed and I saw… ~  
  
Lily blushed. ~* Oops. Sorry! Could you keep your eyes open for a while? *~  
  
~ Okay. ~  
  
Lily turned around and continued changing, facing away from the mirror. She got into bed.  
  
~* Thankyou James. *~  
  
~ That's okay. May I close my eyes now? ~  
  
~* There's nothing to see. *~  
  
~ Apart from your bed hangings. Should I be happy or upset about that? ~  
  
~* James! *~  
  
~ I was just joking. ~  
  
~* Hmm. Okay, I'll forgive you. It would be stupid not to, as you could keep me awake all night if I didn't. *~  
  
~ I wouldn't do that! But it is a good idea…~  
  
Lily's reply to that was just a snort. ~* You wouldn't dare. Or I would sing at you. *~  
  
~ Okay, okay! Forget I ever said it! ~  
  
~* Do you want to chat for a while, or are you tired? *~  
  
~ No, I'm fine. So talk about what? ~  
  
~* Um… I don't know! *~  
  
~ Would you tell me about your parents? ~  
  
So Lily did. She hadn't spoken about them for the last five years, and it was good to get it off her chest. When she had finished, James was quiet for a bit.  
  
~ You're so strong, Lily. I don't know how you cope. ~  
  
~* I don't have much of a choice. *~  
  
~ Well, you have my respect. ~  
  
Lily didn't know what to say. She responded by sending him an emotion- thought to let him know how she felt. Sometimes, a thought was worth a thousand words. This one relayed her deep gratitude, her own respect, her relief, and, for a split second, it included one other strong emotion. One that could only be termed 'love.'  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
A/N That was quite short for me. I would apologise, but the next part is going up straight away, so I won't. It just seemed a good place to stop. Review, all you have to say is 'good' or 'bad,' and I would really appreciate it! Thankyou.  
  
~Stef 


	10. The penultimate episode (I think)

A/N This note ought to be short and sweet. Want a disclaimer? Go to the first chapter. If you read this, have the decency to review, please. Constructive criticism is always welcome!  
  
~Stef  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
On Monday, Lily found herself squashed in a compartment with all of her friends. The result of James's offer was that Lily, Remus, Sirius, Anna, and Jill were coming. Molly could come for a while, but she had to go home on Christmas Eve. None of the others could come at all. How they managed to fit in the compartment, Lily would never know. Jill was on Sirius's lap and Anna was on Remus's. As much as Lily would have liked to sit on James's, she didn't, because everyone still thought that the two of them were fighting. Instead, Peter sat on Sahi's lap, much to her disgust.  
  
Everyone was talking about what they would do in the holidays, which reminded Lily that Cecilia probably thought that she was coming to the orphanage. She took out some parchment and a quill, and began to write a letter to her friend.  
  
Dear Cecilia,  
  
I'm not going to be coming to the orphanage for Christmas, because I'm going to James Potter's house for the holidays. Do you remember last summer, when I went to his house for the last few weeks before school? It's the same James, but a lot of my friends from school are coming too. I'm writing this on the train now, leaving Hogwarts, just in case you were going back to the orphanage and missed me. I think Miss Theresa knows I'm not coming, but if she doesn't, would you mind telling her for me? Does Beauxbatons allow students to stay there for the holidays? Will you stay there, or are you going to the orphanage? If you are, I'll see if you can come over to James's for a day, and you can meet my friends from Hogwarts. Oh, and you know I said Dumbledore used to let me use magic in the holidays because of my disguise? Well, he forgot to tell the people handing out the letters that I'm not supposed to be doing magic in the holidays any more! That means I can still do it, and not get in trouble! I hope you have a good Christmas, and write to me whenever you feel like it. Happy holidays! See you next summer. Love,  
  
Lily  
  
Lily folded the parchment, found an envelope to put it in, and then asked James to borrow his owl. Lily didn't have an owl of her own yet, but she planned to get one next time she visited Diagon Alley. James let her use his owl, and soon Twitterdragon disappeared ahead of the train. That owl could fly fast! Then Lily realised that it was because the train had stopped. She blushed, and stood up, looking for her trunk. She found James holding it out of her way, a grin on his face.  
  
"Oh, thankyou." Lily said, holding her hand out for her trunk. James's mischievous grin just intensified.  
  
"What makes you think I picked it up for you? I might be stealing it." He said teasingly. Lily moved closer, but instead of grabbing it, she whispered in his ear.  
  
"You're mad at me, remember? You can't tease me if we're not talking."  
  
"Oh, right." James handed Lily the trunk. "You know, I think we'd better think up a reason to make up. There's no way I'm going to be able not to talk to you all holidays."  
  
"All the others are gone now. We can just start talking again, and let them think that we made up in here. No-one will be any the wiser."  
  
"Okay then. Let's go." James led the way out, and Lily followed.  
  
They were greeted by James's mother, and then led to a car. It looked pretty small, but it fit all of them in easily. Lily sat next to James, and although the others looked surprised, they didn't comment. As Michelle (James's mother) drove off, she asked James,  
  
"I haven't seen or heard anything about Luke in a long time. Did you have a fight?"  
  
James looked confused for a split second, but then everyone in the car burst out laughing. Michelle looked very confused.  
  
"Lily will explain, Mum." James gasped out. Lily was the only one not laughing, but she was grinning broadly.  
  
"Well, I kind of am Luke. Voldemort killed my parents just after I received my letter for Hogwarts. He told me that if I went to Hogwarts, he would kill me too. I decided at once not to go, but Professor Dumbledore came to me and convinced me otherwise. If I didn't go, I would be doing what Voldemort wanted. Professor Dumbledore convinced me to disguise myself as a boy while I went to Hogwarts.  
  
"Last summer, Dumbledore talked to me. He said that I should be able to hold Voldemort off, at least for a little while, by now. Also, he wanted me to be a prefect, but he wanted James to be one too, and Gryffindor couldn't have two seeming boys. So I reverted back to my normal self, giving my friends a bit of a shock."  
  
Michelle smiled in understanding, but her friends looked slightly shocked. Then Lily realised why. They knew she was in hiding because of Lord Voldemort, but they didn't know that he had killed her parents and threatened her not to go to school. But they didn't say anything, because they were arriving at the Potter home, and had to get out of the car. Michelle led the way, and James took Lily's had and squeezed it for a second before letting go. He had a sympathetic look on his face.  
  
Lily tried something. ~* Hey, James, does this still work? *~ There was no answer from James, so Lily had to assume it had worn off. It had still worked last night, though, so it seemed that the limit of the spell was 48 hours. Well, it was good to know.  
  
They went into the kitchen, and had a drink. Then James showed them all to their rooms. Lily shared a room with Molly; the same room she had slept in last summer. Anna and Jill shared a room, and Sirius and Remus shared a room. That left James alone in his own room, but (as his mother pointed out) it was such a mess that they wouldn't be able to fit any extra beds in it, anyway. And the use of so many guest rooms didn't phase Michelle at all. It seemed that they were only using half of the guest rooms in the house, which Lily was beginning to think of as a mansion. Lily unpacked her stuff quickly, but Molly was still unpacking, so she decided to go for a walk to familiarise herself with the house.  
  
It was big, and half an hour later Lily reckoned that she had the maze of passages and rooms memorised. She made her way back to her own room, getting lost only once. A very friendly witch in a portrait put her back on track, and from there Lily found it easy. When she got back, Molly had just finished un-packing. Whereas Lily had just thrown her stuff into her drawers, Molly appeared to be a bit of a neat-freak. All of her muggle clothes were neatly folded, and her robes were hanging up in the cupboard which Lily had ignored.  
  
"Done?" Lily asked.  
  
"Just about. Everything's folded and put away, and all my school books are left in my trunk."  
  
"Would you like me to make your trunk and its contents smaller? I'm still allowed to do magic, I guess Dumbledore forgot."  
  
"I don't think he forgot. He probably just likes you, or trust you. Or both. But yes, please." Lily smiled at her friend, and shrunk the trunk. Then she and Molly went into the hallway. They checked James's room, and found all of the others in there.  
  
"Finally!" Sirius exclaimed. "What were you doing? Washing and ironing your clothes?"  
  
Lily grinned, and Molly blushed. "Just because I like everything to be neat and tidy…" she began, but Lily prodded her.  
  
"He's just being Sirius. His clothes are probably arranged more messily than mine."  
  
"Of course they are!" Sirius said proudly. "They're all strewn all over the bed." Molly rolled her eyes, and everyone else laughed. Lily and Molly sat down, and everyone started to plan what they would do for the rest of the week.  
  
~~~~~*****~~~~~*****~~~~~*****~~~~~*****~~~~~*****~~~~~*****~~~~~  
  
Molly left on Christmas Eve, and Christmas day came and went. Lily received presents from all of her school friends, from James's parents, and even an owl from Cecilia. The note attached said that if they were to write to each other, Lily had better get an owl. Lily laughed at the note, but was happy with her owl. She didn't, however, have any idea what to name him (it was a him.) Her friends amused her with all kinds of names, suggestions varying from 'Sirius' (guess who that suggestion came from) to 'Bambi.' Lily wasn't quite sure how Anna came up with Bambi, but she rejected the name all the same. At last, she decided to leave him nameless until she could come up with something. It was better to have an owl without a name than one with a name that didn't suit it. Lily was a strong believer in having names that suited the character, and her owl was certainly not a 'Bambi.'  
  
A few days after Christmas, nobody knew what to do.  
  
"Let's go out and play Quidditch!" Sirius suggested. Very calmly, Jill said,  
  
"Sirius, we've played Quidditch every single day that we've been here, except Christmas day. Don't you think it's getting a bit old by now?"  
  
"Quidditch could never get old!" Sirius returned obstinately.  
  
"Maybe not when we're on a team against different opponents, but playing it with apples, on differently matched broomsticks, in my back garden does wear a bit thin after a while." James said. It seemed even the Quidditch captain could have enough after a while.  
  
"So what should we do?" Remus asked. "I suppose no-one is quite desperate enough to do homework yet?"  
  
That comment was greeted by a prod in the ribs from Anna, and four shouts of "NO!" Remus grinned, and there was a moments pause before James's face lit up.  
  
"I know! There's a waterfall with a big pool at the base about half an hour's trek from here. We could walk there, and take a picnic lunch." James said. Sirius opened his mouth, but James anticipated his question, and said, "No, we can't go on broomsticks because it's through the forest, and if someone crashes we'd have a hard time getting him or her back."  
  
Sirius opened his mouth again. James interrupted again, "Don't bother. I've already begged Mum hundreds of times; she won't let us go on broomsticks." Sirius shut his mouth, defeated. Everyone else burst out laughing. They all thought it was a good idea.  
  
James left to ask the house-elves to prepare a picnic lunch for them, and everyone else went to put on swimsuits under their clothes. Half an hour later, armed with towels and picnic baskets, the group of six left the Potter grounds, and walked through the woods. According to James, the path led directly there, so Remus and Sirius walked off ahead, setting the pace. Anna and Jill came next, And Lily and James brought up the rear, walking together. As soon as Anna and Jill were far enough ahead so that they wouldn't hear a whisper, James softly said to Lily,  
  
"Do you think we should tell them now?" Lily automatically knew what he was talking about- it wasn't her Animagus transformations. He was talking about them being a couple. Lily didn't see why not. There would be the usual teasing, but what could you expect?  
  
"How about we don't tell them, but we don't hide it. They should be perceptive enough to notice." Lily replied. James snorted.  
  
"I don't know about perceptive, but…" here he raised his voice quite a lot, "… they certainly are nosy!" Lily looked at him strangely, and then realised that Jill and Anna weren't ahead of them any more. She looked around her, and, sure enough, there was Sirius's foot sticking out from behind a nearby tree.  
  
Lily took out her wand, and muttered a spell under her breath, directed at Sirius. His foot turned bright green, and it began spreading up his leg, as far as Lily could see. She grinned at James.  
  
"Come on out, you lot." She called. The four came out from behind the tree with guilty expressions on their faces.  
  
"I suppose you heard everything." She asked, directing her question at the now green all over Sirius.  
  
"No, we didn't hear anything." He replied convincingly. At least, it would've been convincing, had not Sirius's skin suddenly changed to bright red. It stayed like that for a second, and then subsided again, back to green.  
  
"The truth, if you please." Lily said matter-of-factly.  
  
"Yes, we heard it all." Sirius said resignedly, and his skin turned a bright yellow colour before subsiding again. Apparently, Sirius knew the nature of the spell Lily had cast on him.  
  
"And are you planning on teasing us?" she asked again, no trace of embarrassment on her face. She hoped there would be none, and luckily, she was getting better at hiding her feelings.  
  
"Yes, we are." Sirius turned yellow again, verifying his truthfulness.  
  
"And is there anything James or I can do to stop you from that?" she questioned.  
  
"Nope." At that, Sirius turned red again. He noticed, and said, "Oh blast!"  
  
"What is it that we can do?"  
  
"I won't tell you." Sirius turned a pale yellow, verifying that he had told a half-truth. That probably meant that he would tell, but only under duress. Lily gave up, but left the spell on him for good measure. Sirius looked better bright green.  
  
"Come on, let's go before they start." James said, nodding in the direction of the four eaves-droppers. He took her hand, and they walked off fast. However, it wasn't fast enough to avoid the others, who came up, clamouring for details such as for how long they had been 'together', when Lily and James were going to tell them, and other much more embarrassing things. Lily couldn't really blame them, after the way she had questioned Sirius, but she didn't deign to answer. At last, James said,  
  
"Would you lot like me to ask Lily to tie you all up and leave you by a tree until we get back from the waterfall? She can still do magic, you know." That subdued them, and they stopped asking questions, with a last,  
  
"Just wait until we get back to Hogwarts." From Remus. James just stuck his tongue out at him. A few minutes later, they arrived at the waterfall. A vote was taken; swimming or eating first. Eating won unanimously, and the group set down to eat.  
  
They stayed at the waterfall for a long time, and the sun was just beginning to set when they began to make their way back. When they got back to the mansion, everything was silent. The tired group of teenagers trouped around to the back door, leading into the kitchen. James opened the door, and instantly froze. His face turned ashen.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
A/N Well, my cliff-hangers are getting better, aren't they? Okay, okay, it's probably pretty obvious what's going to happen, but at least I'm improving. Please review, this was a very long chapter and it took me forever to write. I hope you all liked it.  
  
~Stef 


	11. The last chapter, + my thankyous!!!

A/N I still don't own much, but you ought to know that if you've read this far. I liked writing this chapter, and it's pretty sad (at least, compared to what I usually write). Please review!!!  
  
Lily saw over her shoulder what had caused him to stop. Michelle and Daniel Potter, lying on the floor. "Oh my God!" she said. James was shaking. There was no doubt that Michelle and Daniel were dead. Their faces couldn't look like that if they were alive. Remus, Sirius, Anna, and Jill all crowded around to see what was wrong. There was a collection of gasps and cries.  
  
This all took place in about five seconds. Before anyone could do anything, there was a series of pops, and a group of five wizards stood there. They raced into the house past the younger wizards. After 5that, Lily's memory was pretty blurred. Everything went by really fast, none of it soaking in part her numbness. Later, Lily wondered why she had felt as she did.  
  
Firstly it was shock that ore people were dead. Secondly, it was that it was the Potters. Then she felt sorrow and anger for James; his parents had been killed. But over all, it was that sense of déjà vu. It had all happened before. To her own parents.  
  
Sirius, Jill, Anna, and Remus all went to their own homes. Lily and James were sent to the wizarding orphanage. They arrived, and James went straight up to the boys' dorm. Lily decided to leave him in peace, and she went up to the girls' dormitory. There were very few girls there, because most had decided to stay at school or with a friend over the Christmas holidays.  
  
Lily dumped her trunk on her bed, smiled in greeting at a few of the girls, and then walked over to the window. The garden had a big pond, a stretch of trees that Lily knew was only a hundred metres deep, a few flower beds, and a lot of grass. She saw James walk out into the garden, and then he disappeared into the trees. He didn't reappear, but minutes later a stag came out of the trees. It was headed in the direction of the pond. Lily knew, with a horrible certainty, what it was going to do.  
  
She let out a hoarse, wordless cry, and ran down the stairs, into the garden, and to the pond. James was already in it, getting deeper and deeper. The water was already past his shoulders. Lily changed into her leopard and raced into the water after him. He ignored her. Lily swatted desperately at him with her paw, but he continued to force his way deeper and deeper into the water. The water was now half-way up his neck. Lily put her powerful muscles to the test. Nothing would matter if she failed to do this. She gripped his hide in her teeth (praying that she wasn't hurting him) and pulled him back.  
  
In the swimming pool so long ago, it had been easy to save him as a human. Now he was much bulkier and heavier than before, and he was fighting her. However, sheer desperation forced her to strive onwards. Gradually, slowly, painfully he came backwards. She didn't let up until James was well out of the water. He turned back human. He was sobbing.  
  
Lily turned back too, and held him to her. She had just saved his life, she was his girlfriend, and he had just tried to kill himself. But now, none of that mattered. All that mattered was the moment. His parents were dead. They would never come back. James needed someone just to be there for him, and Lily filled that position. It may have been five minutes, it may have been fifty, but Lily didn't move, and neither did James.  
  
A while later, James stopped sobbing. He hugged Lily tightly to him. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm so sorry." Lily realised that she had tears streaming down her face.  
  
"James. Next time, talk to me. You played right into his hands."  
  
James hugged Lily tighter. "I won't do it again. I promise. Say the name, Lily. I refuse to show him I'm scared of him by fearing to speak his name. It's Voldemort."  
  
"I know. And 'mort' comes from death. He deserves much more than death.  
  
"He killed your parents too, didn't he?"  
  
"That's why I was hiding for so many years. But not any more. We'll find him, James. We'll hunt him down."  
  
"We'll go back to school. We'll continue to get good marks. We'll still have fun, prank the Slytherins, and get detentions. We can make a map of the entire school! We'll become Head Students!"  
  
"We'll do everything. And when we've finished at school, we'll find him."  
  
"We'll do all we can. If we can't, our children will. And our grandchildren. One way or another, we'll get revenge on him. On Voldemort."  
  
"We'll do it. Together, we'll do it." James stood up, and pulled Lily up too.  
  
"Introduce me to your friends. My life is not going to be ruined by Voldemort. My parents would want me to continue… and I want to continue on living."  
  
Come on, James. I'll show you everything." Hand in hand, they walked back into the orphanage. Together, the walked into the rest of their lives.  
  
  
  
A/N Aww… I just can't avoid sappy endings. It's just how I write. I hope that you liked if it you read it. Please review and tell me what you think! I want to say a huge thankyou to all of my reviewers, so I'll do what I've never done before and thank all of you separately. Thanks for spending a moment of your time to tell me what you think and why (if) you like it. So here goes:  
  
Words of Wonder: Thanks for everything! You've been my strictest critic, and my most loyal supporter! I'm not going to get sappy (now or ever!), but I do want to say thanks for everything. AS for the Bounties, the only comment available there is :P Oh, and just to tell you, you meant 'homophone,' not 'synonym.' :P again! But I concede that you were correct with faze… oops. Also, I did do a bit of research for this, so you can't say I'm entirely hopeless!  
  
Katie Weasley: Thankyou for reviewing, and I hope the ending satisfied you!  
  
Purple Mango: Thanks for reviewing both times, I love getting encouragement!!! I did read your fics, and loved them!!! I'm glad you liked it.  
  
Erin: Thanks for being so encouraging in your reviews!  
  
Kristatwen: Thankyou!!! I'm glad you liked it, and I hope the ending satisfies you.  
  
Cheler: Thanks for the 'good' and the 'great'! I appreciate it!  
  
Merlin's Quill: Thankyou very much!!! I'm happy that you liked it!  
  
A13TAT: Thanks for being encouraging! I tried to keep it separate from the usual clichés, but I'm afraid the ending is a bit predictable. Thankyou!  
  
Quack Quack 88: I haven't even seen the weakest link commercial (I live in singapore), so I don't think I stole it from there. Thanks for reviewing, I'm glad my writing's appreciated!  
  
Queen of the Queer: Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou! I loved getting your positive reviews… thanks a lot!  
  
LilyEvans: Thanks for reviewing, I did try to make this as original as possible.  
  
Sirena Oculare: It's great to have people saying they like this! Thanks for reviewing.  
  
Kizzy: Thanks for the support, but you're right, the scene where Luke/Lily reveals who she really is is pretty weak. I hope you're satisfied with my reasoning out as to why she kept quiet about her Animagus transformation ability.  
  
Anastacy: Thankyou!!! Your nickname's also unusual… but ask any of my friends, and they'll agree with my name. Of course, I could also be Cynicism Queen… enough! I'll shut up! Thanks for reviewing.  
  
G. D. Jade: Thankyou!!! Your review made me smile! I'm glad I read and reviewed your stories… they were DEFINITELY worth it!  
  
KittyKat: Thankyou for reviewing so much at the beginning of my fanfic, and I hope the romance was okay. I tried!  
  
Gnat10886: Thanks for your review… you should know by now that I love everything you've written and posted!!! And I'm not obsessed with Harry Potter… just with L/J fics!  
  
Okay, I think that's everyone who posted a signed review. If I missed you out, I'm extremely sorry, but I can guarantee that I appreciated your review! (I didn't get one single flame… so far. Thankyou!!!) Um… that's it, because the author's notes and thanks are just as long as the story. Oops. 


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